Queen Billie

Moon of my Life/My Sun and Stars

Best alarm clock ever.

via @winnie.and.malla

Prompt: A Human Nature/Family of Blood AU with Rose where as she is dragging the unconscious body of the newly Chameleon Arched John Smith from the TARDIS, she slips and hits her head hard on a rock (or something along those lines). The next time she wakes up, a nurse informs her that she is in the school infirmary and gave Mr. Smith quite the fright. Confused, she asks what school she’s at and who Mr. Smith is and, for that matter, what her own name even is because she can’t recall a thing.

When John finds out that Rose has no recollection of him, he is devastated. He had just landed a new job at a boy’s school and his beautiful wife of two years loses her memory on the way there. Rose, for her part, is downright confused and scared. She didn’t even know her own name when she first woke up or who the man with the rather attractive face was hovering worriedly by her bedside. And, to add to all of that, she feels like there is something important that she is supposed to be doing, but she just cannot remember what it is.

John knows that he has to take things slow until Rose hopefully regains some her memories, if not all. It seems that he will just have to woo his wife all over again, like he did before. Although, he can’t seem to recall how he won her over the first time for some reason. Rose doesn’t know what to make of this man claiming to be her husband, but whenever he takes her hand it just feels right. It’s as if he was made just for her.

So, they take things slow. It’s nice.

Rose just might be falling in love with John.

The moment John comes to, he is lying on the damp ground not far from the school grounds. Next to him is his wife, who is unconscious and not responding to his entreaties. A young student finds them and rushes to get help. Rose is still unresponsive when the nurse and other teachers arrive and John fears the worst. The next eight hours are the worst of John’s life, wondering if he would ever see his bride’s beautiful eyes open again.

He is so relieved when she wakes that he can’t help the sob that nearly escapes him; the nurse converses with her until John gets a hold of himself again. When he finally tamps down his emotions, he turns back to the two women and goes to take his wife’s hand. Only, she pulls away in confusion and asks him three words that will haunt his dreams for the next few months.

“Who are you?”

Her memories are gone. She doesn’t remember anything. Not her name, not her family, not him. Nothing. The lack of recognition in her eyes whenever she looks at him nearly breaks him and he is forced to leave the room else he break down in despair. His precious Rose doesn’t remember him. She doesn’t know him. And there is no guarantee that she will ever remember their life together.

She may never remember how much he loves her.

Rose Smith.

The name felt weird coming from her own mouth. It just sounded wrong. Rose Smith. Rose Smith. No, it should be something else. Rose…something. She didn’t know what it was supposed to be, but it wasn’t Smith.

She was just so confused. Who was Rose Smith? Was she happy? Was she sad? Was she real? Whoever she was, it wasn’t someone she knew. It all felt like a dream where she was surrounded by people who knew her, but she didn’t know them. She was supposedly Rose Smith, John Smith’s wife.

John Smith, her husband. When did she get married? How old was she? When did she meet John? Why did she marry him? It was all too much and she asked that he leave her alone for while. The look on his face was almost enough to make her take back her words.

Almost.

The next few days were filled with questions, check-ups, and three visits from the local doctor. The diagnosis? She had amnesia. Really? As if she didn’t already figure that one out herself. How did they fix it? She was given a long explanation that she barely paid attention to, but the short of it was that they would have to be patient and see if the memories returned on their own.

Time, they told her. She just needed time and lots of rest. There was no telling when or if the memories would return, but she mustn’t give up hope. Besides, she had a doting husband who would wait for her to remember. And, if not, then they could make new ones. Together.

Well, she could do worse. John was a handsome man with a good job and patient demeanor. He was safe and kind. He could be whatever she needed as she healed and they could get to know each other all over again. Whatever she needed, he’d be there for her.

Okay, she could do that.

For now.

Rose has been spending most of her time in the infirmary while John has been spending his nights all alone for the first time in a couple of years. The other side of his bed has never felt so empty. During the day, John teaches his classes but when he’s done with grading he immediately goes to the infirmary to spend time with Rose.

He’ll bring her dinner and just talk with her for hours until her eyes grow tired and he realizes that he must return to his room. Alone. It doesn’t get any easier to leave her every evening, but he manages and promises to visit the next day. Rose has been warming up to him and that gives him hope. Her eyes light up whenever he enters the room now and it makes him tingle all over with joy.

When she is finally able to get up and move around on her own he offers to take her on walks so that she can stretch her legs. They talk about anything and everything and even the boys take a shine to her. They have picnics and sometimes he’ll whisk her away to watch the stars.

And then, a few weeks in, an illness sweeps through the school and the boys get sick left and right. The nurse informs John and Rose that she needs the bed back and, since they are technically married, it’s probably best that Rose finally join John in his room.

Oh dear.

She was alone in John Smith’s room; well, alone except for the man himself. He stood in the entryway looking extremely nervous and slightly nauseous. Rose stared around the office/bedroom with a critical eye, doing her very best to avoid looking at the bed.

The bed they would be sharing that night.

Rose was nervous, trepidation making her heart race. She would be sleeping next to John Smith on his bed. They would be sleeping on his bed, together. Rose bit her nail as she began to contemplate exactly how their current situation would work out.

John stepped forward and informed her that he would take the couch and she could have the bed. Rose tried to protest, but he insisted. He didn’t want to make her anymore uncomfortable than she already was. By all rights, she was his wife, but he refused to force her to do anything she wasn’t comfortable with.

Rose felt her heart skip at his words and a warmth spread throughout her chest. Whoever Rose Smith had been before, she had clearly picked the right man to call her husband.

John slept fitfully that night, knowing that Rose was so close and yet he was unable to hold her. It was sheer torture. She was so relieved when he told her that he’d take the couch and he felt the tension in his shoulders relax just a fraction. He would do anything to ease this situation for her.

She was still nervous around him, but she no longer stared at him as if he were a stranger. They had spent enough time together now that she had come to see him as at least a friend. He could be her friend, if that’s what she needed right now. Anything, as long as she didn’t hate him or worse, show no interest in him at all.

He’d been so scared those first few days. What if she wanted nothing to do with him? What if she couldn’t stand to even look at him? What would he do? He’d been wound so tight he thought that if she showed any inclination of resentment towards him he would surely break.

But she didn’t. Instead, she listened to him and asked questions about him and their life together. She didn’t back away from the challenge that her life had become; she faced it head on and took command.

It was one of the things that made him fall in love with her in the first place. Rose was fierce and independent. By all rights, if it had been 2005 and not 1913, she wouldn’t even need a husband.

2005? What a strange year to pick.

Anyway, he needn’t worry about some far off year he would never see for himself. Rose was relaxing more and more around him and really, that’s all he could ask for. Someday she may grow to love him again, but for now he would have to settle for being a hand to hold.

He just wished that someday would come sooner rather than later.

One day, Rose catches John writing in a notebook just moments after he wakes up and asks him about it. He tells her about these fantastic dreams he’s been having recently. In them he’s a time traveler who explores the universe with his companion; she is his companion, although there have been others before her. When Rose asks the name of this time traveler he says “The Doctor” and she feels something nag at the back of her mind. He continues, unaware of her thoughts.

John explains that although he has had other companions before her, Rose is different. She is special to him because he’s in love with her. She is his light in the dark. She is seared into his soul in a way that he’s never known and it scares him so much, yet gives him something that he’d thought was lost to him.

Hope.

Tears burn in the back of her eyes as he talks, unable to articulate why she is feeling so overwhelmed. His words strike a chord within her, something buried deep behind a closed door that she has no key to. Why would his strange yet incredible dreams make her yearn for something that she can’t even begin to explain? She needs something, but she doesn’t know what.

No, she knows what she needs.

Or really, who she needs.

John is still talking when she leans forward and kisses him. It only takes him a moment to respond and she soon finds herself pulled into his lap as he kisses her back enthusiastically.

Honestly, if she had known how good a kisser he was she would have kissed him sooner.

Rose never noticed the watch before; it sat inconspicuously on the mantle and she just never really gave it much thought.

Until now, that is.

Something about the odd whirling design made her head ache. In the back of her mind she was afraid of it. Sometimes, in the dead of night, she swore she hear it whispering to her. There was something unnatural about the watch and it made Rose fear what it was capable of.

John brushed it off as just an old time piece he got from his parents at some vague point in his life, but Rose found it strange that he couldn’t remember a watch like this one. It’s almost as if he didn’t really see it; like he wasn’t supposed to know it was there.

Rose saw it, though.

She knew it deep inside and something about it made her heart race.

Don’t touch it, she told herself. Don’t go near it. Don’t even think about it. And she tried, she really did, but it was hard not to notice the voices coming from the watch when she was alone.

It called out her name once and she almost cried.

Whatever this thing was, it knew her.

And then, one day, it was gone.

Rose was scared of the watch when she could see it, but she was even more terrified when it was gone.

The watch was powerful and it could hurt a lot of people.

He could get hurt if they got a hold of it.

He? They?

Who were these people?

Images quickly flashed through her mind before they were gone.

Her head hurt so much when she tried to recall them, but nothing came to her.

John still had his head in the clouds days following Rose’s kiss. There had been more kisses after that first one and he really couldn’t believe this turn of events. His whole world seemed to right itself with her kiss.

There was a dance coming up and he hoped Rose felt up to celebrating the change in their relationship. Although, she’s been irritable since the day before when she asked him about some old watch of his. When he told her that he had no idea what happened to it she seemed even more upset. It was just a watch.

The next time he saw her she was digging around his desk, pulling open drawers and searching through his various bric-a-brac. She told him they needed to find the watch, but when he asked her why it was so important to her she seemed to freeze, confused.

She told him she didn’t know, but it was important.

He probably shouldn’t have done it, but he lied and said that he forgot that he took it to get cleaned and should have it back in a few days or so. That seemed to calm her down a bit. He really should look for it, but it was just some old piece of junk that his family handed off to him years ago. It didn’t even work.

As John is wandering back to his room after class, he spies Timothy Latimer watching Rose from a distance. Curious, he asks the boy what he is up to but Tim just brushes him off, stating that he needed to do some homework. Over the next few days John sees Tim several times, always watching Rose with concern.

Something about the boy’s behavior set John’s teeth on edge.

The day of the dance arrives and Rose looks absolutely stunning in her dress. Before they leave, though, there is a knock on the door; it’s Tim. He tells them that they shouldn’t go to the dance because it’s a trap.

The Family has found them.

John tells the boy off, but Tim’s words have a profound affect on Rose. She can’t explain why, but she thinks they should listen to Tim and stay back. John is not convinced, but promises Rose that they’ll leave at the first sign of trouble.

They should have stayed at the school. If they had, Rose wouldn’t be held at gunpoint by Jeremy Baines. She wouldn’t be scared and looking to him for help. She wouldn’t be in danger.

He should have listened.

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